Evaporator



May 3, 1960 w. A. COLLINS EVAPORATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27,1956 INVENTOR. /7 62/727:

xiii! 3 1960 w. A. COLLINS 2,934,917

EVAPORATOR Filed Feb. 27, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 24771 /76017271.:

May 3, 1960 w. A. COLLINS EVAPORATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 27,1.9556

Un ted? grates Fatent C.

EVAPORATDR William A. Collins, Dowagiac, Mich, assignor to RudyManufacturing Company, Dowagiac, Mich, a corporation of Michigan 1 7Application February 27, 1956, Serial No. 567,955

Ciairns. (Cl. 62-516) The aluminum sheet is preferably of the stucco orother type which provides strength while permitting thinner sheets to beemployed. The conduit is formed sinuously to have elongated sectionsthereof which nest within the channels of the sheet, with the loops atthe ends projecting beyond the ends of the sheet. The channels of thesheet are further formed thereafter to have the material thereof wrappedaroundthe straight sections of the conduit to secure them rigidly inposition With the .metal of the sheet between the channels disposed in asmooth plane. The sheet is then formed into rectangular shape, with theloops of the ends overlapping the opposite ends of the sheet. One end ofthe sheet has extended tabs which lap over the opposite end of the sheetand are secured thereto by welding, riveting or the like.

Four apertures are formed in the sheet near the ends which form the toppart of the rectangular evaporator by which the evaporator is supportedto a shelf or the top wall of the recess within the refrigerator. Thetop and bottom of the evaporator may be in parallel relation or the topmay slope from the center, a side or front end and when in thisrelationship the metal about the apertures by which the evaporator issupported is embossed to be in a horizontal plane. A recess is cut inone corner of the sheet which is filled by a formed sheet to have recesstherein for receiving an accumulator which is connected at one end tothe conduit, the other end having a length of tubing connected theretoby which connection is made to the refrigeration system. The oppositeend of the conduit is disposed in position to be connected into thesystem and when the conduit is made of steel or aluminum, a length ofconduit on theends is preferably made of copper which is brazed, weldedor otherwise secured thereto to permit the ready brazing of coppertubing to the ends of the conduit of the evaporator; In someapplications a panel may be applied to the'rear face of the sheet toenclose the evaporator on all. sides except the front. By having thechannel portions of the sheet and the conduit lengths disposed thereinii -alternate diverging and converging relationship, the loop at theconverging ends will nest between the opposite or diverging ends and inthis manner the tubes forming the conduit for the evaporator nest witheach other to have. the entire area affected by the refrigerant.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are:

i atented May 3, 1960.

ice

a closed figure forming the evaporator; to form channels in a, sheet ofmaterial lengthwise thereof in a man ner to have alternate channelsdiverging and converging at opposite ends so that conduits supported inthe channels will have their loops at the converging ends nest, betweenthe conduits at the diverging ends when the sheet is formed into aclosed figure with the ends overlapping; to secure the straight portionsof a sinuously formed tube in alternate diverging and converging rela-'tion on a sheet with the looped portions at the converg ing endsextending therebeyond to nest in the opposite diverging ends when thesheet is bent into a closed figure the desired shape for the evaporator;to form an evapo rator with a top which slopes downwardly in whichapertures are provided in embossed areas located in a horizontal plane,and, in general, to provide an evaporator which is simple inconstruction and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will bespecifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for abetter understanding of the invention, to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a sheet employed in the construction of anevaporator of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation of an evaporatorconstructed from the sheet illustrated in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the evaporator illus-' trated in Fig.2; i Fig. 4 is a front view Fig. 3; a

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3, taken on the line 55 thereof; Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectionalview of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on the line 66thereof;

Fig. 7 is a reduced perspective view of an evaporator showing anotherform thereof;

Fig. 8 is a broken view of an evaporator showing a further form thereof,and i Fig. 9 is a view of structure similar to that illustrated in Fig.8 showing still another form of the invention.

of the evaporator illustrated in It was found, when constructingevaporators or large productions, that the tool cost could readily beabsorbed, but when limited quantities of evaporators were cohstructed asimilar tool cost would be prohibitive. As a result, it was difficultfor the manufacturer of small quantitles of refrigerators to competewiththe large manufac turers because of theinability to employ high costtool mg The present invention has solved this problem by employing amethod of construction in which a standard line of tools can be employedfrom which evaporators of various dimensions may be readily constructed.An

elongated sheet of material 19 is employed, having a rolled-over edge 11at each side and channels 12 and 13 formed therein throughout the lengthof the sheet. The channels 12 are disposed parallel to each other and atan angle to the edge of the sheet. The channels 13 are also parallel toeach other and at an angle to the edge of the'sheet and to the channels12. In this manner,- opposite ends of pairs of the channels will bereversed, diverging at one end and converging at the other. Ernbossedareas 14, having apertures 15 therein, are also formed in the sheetadjacent to theopposite ends. One corner is cut from the sheet and tabs16 are provided on one end, having apertures 17 therein which mate withapertures 17 on the opposite end of the sheet. The don bled-over edge 11is cut away at 18 at each end so as to provideonly two layers of metalwhen the ends of the sheet are in overlapping relation. The sheet,may-bmade of steel, copper or aluminum, but a stuc'co o'r othei wisestrengthened aluminum sheet was found to -be nibsjr adaptable, beingreadily bent and formed into the shape of the evaporator.

A conduit21, which is also preferably made of aluminum, although steel,copper or other material may be employed, is bent into serpentine form,with the same size loops 22 at each end. Thestraight lengths between theloops are substantially equal to the lengths of the channels 12' and 13.After the tube is formed in this manner, the straight lengths are placedwithin the channels 12 and 13, with the loops extending beyond the endsof the sheet, and'the metal of the channel is formed around the tube, asillustrated in Fig. 6. This may be accomplished by any well-known methodpreferably by that illustrated in the copending application of Thomas H.U

Polad, Serial No. 215,822, filed March 15, 1951, for 7 the shape of theevaporator desired. The tabs 16 will overlap the opposite end of thesheet, and rivets 23 extending through the apertures 17 secure the endstogether to complete the walls of the evaporator.

As is evident from Fig. 4, the inner walls of the evaporator will be ofsmooth construction as the conduits and the metal of the channel wrappedtherearound will be on the outer surface thereof. The loops 22 being atthe converging endsofa pair of channels 12 and 13 will nest betweentheitopposite diverging ends thereof to have the loop extending from oneend of the sheet overlapthe opposite end of the sheet. With thisconstruction the refrigerant is supplied to all areas of the sheet whenformed into the evaporator.

A separate formed sheet 24 fills in the cutaway corner of the sheet,having a central recessed port-ion 25 for receiving an accumulator 26 towhich one end 27 of the conduit 21 is attached. The opposite end of the'accumulator has a conduit 23 attached thereto and secured in positionby a clip-29 which is riveted to the lappedover ends of the sheets. Theconduit 28 extends along the top of the evaporator downwardly at 31 atonev side and then laterally at 32. When made of steel or alumi num asection of copper tubing 33 is brazed, butt-welded or otherwise securedto the end 32 to provide an expanded end 34 to which the end of theconduit of the refrigeration system is readily connected. As illustratedin dot and dash line, the conduit 28 may extend laterally across the topat 35 andthen parallel to a section of the conduit 21 at 36, with thelength of copper tubing 37 secured thereto. I

The opposite end of the conduit 21 may have a length of copper tubing 38brazed, welded or otherwise secured thereto for connection into arefrigeration system. This end may be bent laterally, as shown in dotand dash line, with the end section of copper tubing 39 secured thereto.The sections of copper tubing 37 and 39 are disposed closely adjacenteach other at the top center of the evaporator. When it is desired toclose the rear face of the evapo-. rator, a back panel 41 is providedthe shape of the opening through the evaporator, having flanges 42 atthe edges which extend over the reversely bent edge 11 at the rear ofthe evaporator and securedthereto by rivets 23. The plate 24 is securedto the sheet 16 by similar rivets 23 and apertures 43 are provided inthe bottom of therecess portion 25 for draining the moisture which maycollect therein. Apertures 44 may be provided in the side walls of theevaporator for supporting a shelf between the two side walls in theconventional manner.

It is to be understood that two sheets 10 may be employed, formed intoU-shape, and a pair of the Ll-shaped sheets joined by their overlappedextending ends are se- Cured together as by riveting in the mannerherein illus= 4- trated. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 7wherein the adjacent loops overlap adjacent sheets in nested relation tothe straight lengths to form an evaporator having all the area thereofin contact with the conduit. Such an arrangement may be desired when alarge evaporator is to be constructed from tools limited in length toform evaporators of smaller size.

As pointed out above, the top of the evaporator may be parallel to thebottom but is preferably in sloping relation thereto to permit the waterto run therefrom when the evaporator is defrosted. In Fig. 4 the top ofthe evaporator is shownsloping from one side edge to another and may bearranged to slope from the front to the back. The sheet material may beof the expanded type or may be perforated as illustrated in Figs. 9 and8. When employed, the serpentine tube is preferably brazed or weldeddirectly thereto, depending on whether the material is steel, aluminum,copper or the like. Such a tube would have straight lengths in divergingand converging relationship tohave the end loops nested when the ends ofthe sheet are secured together. Before and after assembly the evaporatoris suitably finished; if of aluminum, being suitably treated, baked,dipped in clear paint material and baked; if of steel, hot dipped,galvanized or zinc plated, Bonderized and finished in several coats ofpaint.

What is claimed is:

1. An evaporator made from an elongated sheet of material which is benttransversely at four points to have the adjacent ends in abuttingrelation and forming an evaporator frame, a conduit formed intoserpentine shape having straight portions the length of the sheet joinedby looped ends, with the straight portions secured to the sheet whendisposed in diverging relationship so as to permit the loop on theopposite ends of two straight portions to nest therebetween when theends of the sheet are secured together. H

2; An vaporator made fromzsheet material bent into reotangularform, aconduit of sinuous shapesecured to said material, the conduit havingstraight lengths with loops at the ends thereof and with adjacent loopsoverlapping one another and disposed between the opposite diverging endsof the straight lengths extending from the loop when in secured positionon the material.

3. The method of forming an evaporator which includes the steps of:forming channels throughout the length of an elongated sheet of materialwith alternate channels parallel to each other and at an angle to theadjacent channels so that each adjacent pair will converge at oneend anddiverge at the opposite end, forming a tube into sinuous form havingstraight lengths joined by loops, the straight length portion beingsubstantially the length of the channels, securing the straight lengthswithin the channels to have the loops extend beyondthe end,

and forming the sheet into a closed figure and joining the ends thereofwith the loops nested between the opposite diverging ends of thestraight portions in extension thereof, said sheet having the endsjoined at the top portion of the resulting closed figure.

4. The method of forming an evaporator which includes the steps of:forming channels throughout the length of an elongated sheet of materialwith alternate channels parallel to each other and at an angle to theadjacent channels so that each adjacent pair will converge at one endand diverge at the opposite end, forming a tube into sinuous form havingstraight lengths joined by loops, the straight length portion beingsubstantially the length of the channels, securing the straight lengthswithin the channels to have the loops extend beyond the end, forming thesheet into a closed figure and joining the ends thereof with the loopsnested between the opposite diverging ends of the straight portions inextension thereof. said sheet having the ends joined at the top. portionof themesulting closed figure, and providing at least four apertures inthe sheet by. which the evaporator is suping the sheet into a closedfigure and joining the ends thereof with the loops nested between theopposite diverging ends of the straight portions in extension thereof,said sheet having the ends joined at the top portion of the resultingclosed'figure, said joining of the sheets occurring at the center of thetop portion of the closed figure from which the sheet slopes downwardlytoward the sides, and providing at least four embossed areas near thecorners of the top portion having apertures therethrough located in ahorizontal plane. a

6. In an evaporator, an elongated sheet of material, a sinuously formedtube having straight portions joined by loops, means for securing saidstraight portions to the sheet to have opposite ends of adjacent pairsof the tube diverging and converging, and means for securing the twoendsofthe sheet together when formed into an evapora-.

'tor, w'ith the loops extending from one end of the sheet nestingbetween the loops extending from the other end of the sheet. 7, In anevaporator, an elongated sheet of material, a sinuously formed tubehaving straight portions joined sheet to have opposite ends of adjacentpairs of the tube diverging and converging, and means for securing thetwo ends of the sheet together when formed into an evaporator, with theloops extending from one end nesting between the straight portions ofthe tubes which extend from the loops with the loops projecting over theopposite end of the sheet, said sheet being of the expanded metal type.

9. In an evaporator, an elongated sheet of material, a sinuously formedtube having straight portions joined by loops, means for securing saidstraight portions to the sheet to have opposite ends of adjacent pairsof the tube diverging and converging, and means for securing the twoends of the sheet together when formed into an evaporator, with theloops extending from one end nesting between the loops extending fromthe other end of the sheet, the top of said evaporator sloping toward atleast one side edge thereof.

10. In an evaporator, a pair of elongated sheets bent in U-shape, asinuously formed tube having straight portions joined by loops, meansfor securing said straight porby loops, means for securing said straightportions to the of the tube diverging and converging, and means forsecuring the pairs of U-shaped sheets together to form an evaporator,with the loops extending from one end nesting between the straightportions of the tubes which extend from the loops with the loopsprojecting over the opposite endof the sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent -UNITED STATES PATENTS2,014,703 Smith Sept. 17, 1935 2,597,267 Shoemaker et al. May 20, 19522,676,001 Polad Apr. 20, 1954 2,680,353 Baxter June 8, 1954 2,685,634Bartlowe Aug. 3, 1954 2,688,855 Hilliker et al Sept. 14, 1954 2,722,732Sandberg Nov. 8, 1955 2,730,868 Philipp Jan. 17, 1956 2,730,872 HallJan. 17, 1956 2,737,785 Morton Mar.. 13, 1956 2,772,077 Polad Nov. 27,1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 447,891 Great Britain May 27, 1936

